The 470 is an Olympic Class Dinghy recognised by ISAF. Sailed by both men and women, it was designed in 1963 by the Frenchman André Cornu as a modern fibreglass planing dinghy.
The name is the overall length of the boat in centimeters (the boat is 4.70 metres long). The hull is fiberglass with integral buoyancy tanks.

The International 470 Class is the class of boat used for both the men’s two person and women’s two person dinghy events at the Olympic Games. Used as Olympic equipment since 1976, where the class was sailed as an open event before the introduction of separate events for men and women in 1988, the 470 is sailed in more than 61 nations around the world.

A strict one design class, the 470 has proved its pedigree as an Olympic class, being a high performance sailing dinghy suitable for body weights from all continents and to performing across a wide range of weather conditions. Across the 9 Olympic Games in which the 470 Class has been raced, more than 18 different nations have secured Olympic medals in the men’s and women’s events, demonstrating the depth of participation and talent.

The 470 is equipped with spinnaker and trapeze, making teamwork necessary to sail it well. The 470 is not difficult, but to be competitive everything should be mastered to perfection. Tactically the boat is demanding because speed differences are small and fleets are usually big. To be competitive, everything should be mastered to perfection and the 470 is often quoted as the most challenging, dynamic and thrilling to sail of the boats at the Olympics.

Spinnaker Pump Halyard System
A 1:2 reverse purchase on the halyard allows the skipper to raise the spinnaker twice as fast. Pulling the pump handle .6 m (2 ft) off the cockpit floor raises the spinnaker 1.2 m (4 ft). A 1:5 shock-cord halyard take-up system automatically manages accumulating line during the rapid chute deployment.

Boom Vang
The cascaded vang uses super strong single, double, and triple 16 mm blocks for a powerful 16:1 mechanical advantage. The skipper can play the vang from either side of the boat.

Two-Car Mainsheet System
This fast-tacking two-car system halves the distance a single car would travel. The bridle and the 2:1 side-to-side traveler controls raise and lower the floating mainsheet block for perfect mainsail twist. Mainsheet tension tightens the leech and reduces twist.

This fast-tacking two-car system halves the distance a single car would travel. The bridle and the 2:1 side-to-side traveler controls raise and lower the floating mainsheet block for perfect mainsail twist. Mainsheet tension tightens the leech and reduces twist.